Matthew J. Grawitch

The path to a healthy workplace: A critical review linking healthy workplace practices, employee well-being, and organizational improvements.

This review synthesizes much of the previousresearch since 1990 linking healthy workplacepractices in organizations to employee well-be-ing and organizational improvements. Based onthe review, both a direct and an indirect linkbetween healthy workplace practices and orga-nizational improvements are proposed. Fivegeneral categories of healthy workplace prac-tices were identified in the literature: work-lifebalance, employee growth and development,health and safety, recognition, and employeeinvolvement. Previous research also suggeststhat the link between these practices and em-ployee and organizational outcomes is contin-gent on the effectiveness of communicationwithin the organization and the alignment ofworkplace practices with the organizationalcontext. Finally, a discussion of some limita-tions of previous research and recommenda-tions for future work in the area of healthyworkplace practices are provided.Keywords:

Healthy workplace practices and employee outcomes.

The current study explored the relationship between employee satisfaction with different workplace practices (i.e., employee involvement, growth and development, work-life balance, recognition, health, and safety) and employee outcomes (i.e., organizational commitment, emotional exhaustion, mental well-being, and turnover intentions). A total of 152 university faculty and staff completed a web-survey. Overall, regression results indicated that satisfaction with healthy workplace practices was predictive of employee outcomes. In addition, satisfaction with employee involvement practices played a central role in predicting employee outcomes, whereas satisfaction with the other healthy workplace practices was somewhat less influential. Overall, our results suggest that organizations may increase some of the benefits of different healthy workplace programs for employees if they rely on employee involvement in program development.

Dealing With the Stress of College A Model for Adult Students

With an increase in nontraditional students attending college, there is a need to understand how work/school/life stress affects adult students. The purpose of this study is to test a comprehensive stress model that posits appraisal (cognitive evaluation) and coping as mediators between stressors/interrole conflict and psychosocial outcomes. The model proposes that higher levels of stressors/interrole conflict will be associated with lower positive and higher negative appraisals. The model also predicts that positive and negative appraisals will predict specific adaptive and maladaptive coping behaviors. Adaptive coping results in positive outcomes, whereas negative coping leads to negative outcomes. The results support appraisal and coping as partial mediators with positive appraisal and adaptive coping having the hypothesized positive effects. Family—school conflict and school—work conflict and work stressors, in particular, emerge as key stressors for the adult student. This study provides direction for future researchers and implications for adult higher education.

Promoting creativity in temporary problem-solving groups: The effects of positive mood and autonomy in problem definition on idea-generating performance.

The current study examined the effect of mood and autonomy in problem definition on the idea-generating performance of temporary workgroups. Groups (N 54) were randomly assigned to a mood (positive vs. neutral) and autonomy (high vs. low) condition and asked to brainstorm ways to improve university student life. It was found that positive mood increased the originality of ideas and that problems that provided low autonomy led to a greater number of ideas. Mood and autonomy interacted to affect group satisfaction. Furthermore, positive mood led to the identification of more important domains for improvement in the high-autonomy condition. Implications for future research using temporary problem-solving groups are discussed.

Facilitating Self-Regulated Learning with Technology: Evidence for Student Motivation and Exam Improvement

The authors examined the extent to which student access to the MyGrade application in Blackboard may facilitate motivation and exam improvement via grade monitoring. In support of self-regulated learning and feedback principles, students indicated that the MyGrade application helped them better monitor their course performance and increased their motivation to study and pay attention in class. Access statistics for the MyGrade application in two undergraduate psychology courses revealed that students who viewed their grades weekly or more significantly improved their exam scores compared with those who accessed their grades less than weekly. These effects were robust when controlling for student characteristics (ability, experience, self-control) and class attendance. The authors discuss implications for the role of technology in facilitating self-regulated learning.

Do prospective workday appraisals influence end-of-workday affect and self-monitored performance?

The current study uses self-regulation as the basis for a model that examines the influence of three types of workday appraisals (resource, task, and response). At the beginning of their workday, a total of 170 faculty, graduate students, and staff of a university completed appraisal ratings of their anticipated workday tasks, resources, and responses. At the end of the workday, they completed assessments of positive and negative affect and self-monitored performance. Results suggested that resource appraisals of control and skills were predictive of task appraisals of difficulty, threat, and ambiguity. Task appraisals were then predictive of both response appraisals, in terms of anticipated support and effort, and self-monitored performance at the end of the day. Anticipated effort and self-monitored performance were both positively related to positive affect at the end of the day. Anticipated support and self-monitored performance were both negatively related to negative affect at the end of the day, while threat task appraisals were positively related to negative affect. Implications of the results for workplace interventions are discussed.

Come Rain or Come Shine: Supervisor Behavior and Employee Job Neglect

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which supervisor behavior is associated with employees’ job neglect. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper investigates the extent to which supervisor behavior is associated with employees’ job neglect. Findings – Results from hierarchical regression analyses support the hypothesis that both positive and negative supervisor behaviors have significant effects on job neglect. Negative supervisor behavior was more strongly associated with job neglect than positive supervisor behavior. Research Limitations/Implications – Changing the style of supervision might help to reduce job neglect of employees, benefitting the organization by reducing the associated costs of job neglect and counterproductive behavior. Originality/Value – The findings provide additional evidence for the important effects supervisors can have on employees. They also indicate that – in addition to studying abusive supervision – there is a need to consider the effects of a broad spectrum of supervisor behavior.